Going for a Debt Relief Order is it worth it?

[welshcake]

I have an appointment this Friday with a free legal practice to discuss going for a Debt relief order to try and clear my debts and get DCA's off my back.

 

I have a few debts mounting to around £12,000 with a few different companies that are all a fair few years old now that have not recived payment due to my circumstances.

 

I was recenlty served with an order to attend curt to explain my income which I did for one of my debts which was around £2,500 I went through everything with the court person who stated at the end that the compnay will get a copy of that but will most likely just drop the matter as I have no fixed income do not own my house or even have anything f any real value.

 

I have been informed of a new percedure called Debt Relief Order designed for people with less than £50 excess of money a month. It sounds very good for myself however I have around 5 different debts but don't have any paperwork relating to the debts which are the 2 largest of them all RBS and Sainsbury's.

 

Can I still go for this or will it mean having to contact these people to get the relivent information. I have not heard anything from any of them I would say in at least 4 years.

[PriorityOne]

If you have heard nothing at all from anyone.... then it would be a mistake to revive it (in my opinion) by going for any Debt Relief Order. The debts will be statute-barred after 6 years anyway.

 

If/when a company does contact you, you can then check the enforceability of the debt by making a CCA request... which is a legally binding responsibility for that company to prove that you owe the money that they allege to be owed.... and that they have the right to collect it from you.

[welshcake]

If you have heard nothing at all from anyone.... then it would be a mistake to revive it (in my opinion) by going for any Debt Relief Order. The debts will be statute-barred after 6 years anyway.

 

If/when a company does contact you, you can then check the enforceability of the debt by making a CCA request... which is a legally binding responsibility for that company to prove that you owe the money that they allege to be owed.... and that they have the right to collect it from you.

 

Cheers for that, I ave sent a CCA request to the two that I have Barclaycard being handled by some Solicitors and the other HFC bank which is being handled by Ruthbridge, I have been informed that if Ruthbridge is involved chances are the debt is or near Statue Barred which it is the oldest of all my debts to be honest but can't remember last tiem I made a payment.

 

I am sure that neither will be able to prove an original copy of the CCA so from that can I relax really as if they cannot prove it then they cannot take any further action legally and if they did it would not stand up in court.

[cerberusalert]

Have a read through Debt Relief Order - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia it explains what a DRO involves in a bit more detail.

[welshcake]

Have a read through Debt Relief Order - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia it explains what a DRO involves in a bit more detail.

 

I have researched DRO's ever since I considered bankruptcy, It was only when speaking to one of those free debt helplines they informed me after giving them my current financial situation that a DRO might be the best option to which I researched it and thought yeah that sounds right for me.

 

I suppose if I have a word with these solicitors on friday and they can say yeah you would be granted a DRO I don't suppose it would really matter if I got in touch with the other debtors I have not spoken to heard from in years would it?

 

I have not been on the electrol register for a few years, We have due to our circumstances forced to move 5 times in three years so it has been hard to keep track of me I suppose. Like the debt I had to attend court for which I think the company has now given up trying to get anything due to my circumstances I feel with these debts in the back of my mind it is hard to get motivated to better our circumstances which at the moment don't look like changing in the near future but still I don't always want to be in this hole and my concern is that if my wifebecomes well enough again so I can pursue means of getting us back on track, I will quickly be hounded by debt's wanting a slice of my income again which is why I want to get them sorted now to rebuild for the future.

[cerberusalert]

I'd hang back from contacting your creditors until you decide whether to go for the DRO or not. Have you checked your credit file or Trust Online CCJs, court orders & fines - Search yourself and others - Trust Online to see whether there are any CCJs against you? Because if there are they cannot be made subject to a DRO.

[welshcake]

No there are no CCJ's against me at the moment, I am wondering if it is worth at this time going down the route of a DRO as they have not contacted me. Not sure if it's worth putting myself back on the electrol Register to see if they contact me from there, On sayng that however I do have other things like our Virgin TV, Utility bills and so on in my name which I noticed were on my credit file so I suppose if they wanted to find me they could in effect.

[cerberusalert]

Well the debts will become Statute Barred after six years from when payment was due, if you haven't made any payment or written acknowledgement of the debts within that period.

[welshcake]

Does anyone think it is worth going through with a debt relief order for the 3 debts I have then and the other two that I have not heard from in a while, I know one is not over 6 years old but still have not heard from them in a while. If I can't get details and was granted a DRO and then they contacted me what can they do, As I do not have their info to enter on the DRO on Friday can they chase me.

[PriorityOne]

It's really a personal choice.... have you thought about offering token payments instead while checking the enforceability of the accounts currently causing you problems instead though ?..... while leaving the others alone ?

[welshcake]

It's really a personal choice.... have you thought about offering token payments instead while checking the enforceability of the accounts currently causing you problems instead though ?..... while leaving the others alone ?

 

I have although out of the 3 debts that I currently have paperwork on 2 are chasing which I have recently requested a CCA and the other I had to go to court with last month which was basically thrown out as my income is such I have no way of being able to pay.

 

What I did not want was to eventually get back on my feet and then have a bunch of debt letters coming through saying right your working now give us our money.

[GeorgeNash1850]

Have you checked your credit file or Trust Online CCJs, court orders & fines - Search yourself and others - Trust Online to see whether there are any CCJs against you? Because if there are they cannot be made subject to a DRO.

 

Is this true? I wouldn't have thought a CCJ could be excluded from a form of insolvency.

[PriorityOne]

I have although out of the 3 debts that I currently have paperwork on 2 are chasing which I have recently requested a CCA and the other I had to go to court with last month which was basically thrown out as my income is such I have no way of being able to pay.

 

What I did not want was to eventually get back on my feet and then have a bunch of debt letters coming through saying right your working now give us our money.

 

Personally, I would wait and see if you get enforceable copies of your CCA from the companies you've contacted. You've already said that the court recognised that you have no ability to pay the other debt and now that you've found CAG.... if someone did start chasing you again once you're back on your feet, you'll have us lot to help you sort it out. It remains your decision, but if you have no assets in terms of property....there's not much to worry about anyway..... whatever you decide.